Iowa State blitzed Kentucky in the second half on the way to an 82-63 victory in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.
The Cyclones took the lead at the end of the first and never looked back on the way to overwhelming the Wildcats.
The loss was Kentucky’s biggest loss in the NCAA Tournament since 1972.
This is tied for @KentuckyMBB’s 2nd worst loss ever in @MarchMadnessMBB history:
– 24 points vs. Western Kentucky (March 18th, 1971)
– 19 points vs. Iowa State (today)
– 19 points vs. Florida State (March 18th, 1972)
– 19 points vs. Dartmouth (March 21st, 1942)
— Corey Price (@coreyp08) March 22, 2026
Here are all the postgame notes from the loss:
KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
NCAA TOURNAMENT | ENTERPRISE CENTER | ST. LOUIS, MO.
MARCH 22, 2026
ATTENDANCE: 16,348
FINAL SCORE: No. 2 seed Iowa State 82, No. 7 seed Kentucky 63
Team Records and Series Notes
– Kentucky is 22-14 overall and Iowa State is 29-7.
– UK leads the series, 3-1, including 2-1 in NCAA Tournament (also 1992 and 2012).
– Kentucky and Coach Mark Pope in the NCAA Tournament
– Kentucky is now 133-57 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
– Kentucky is now 30-8 all-time in games played in the round of 32, regardless of first or second-round designation.
– Kentucky holds NCAA records for most tournament appearances (63) and most games played (190). UK is second for most victories (133) and fifth in winning percentage (.700, 133-57, min. 20 tournament games).
-Kentucky is 8-2 in NCAA Tournament games played in St. Louis.
– The Wildcats are 14-5 all-time in games played in the Gateway City.
– This is the first time UK has been a No. 7 seed since seedings began in 1980.
– Coach Mark Pope is now 3-4 in the NCAA Tournament, 3-2 at Kentucky.
Team Notes
– Kentucky had a season-high 20 turnovers, leading to a 25-12 deficit in points off TOs.
– Kentucky is now 6-12 this season when trailing at halftime.
– Kentucky entered the tournament having played the nation’s sixth toughest schedule according to KenPom.
– Entering the tourney, UK had played 19 games this season against teams in the NCAA Tournament field, the most of any team in the NCAA Tournament.
Player Notes
– Denzel Aberdeen led the Wildcats with 20 points, his third 20-point game of the season.
He made 4 of 9 on 3-pointers, tying his career high for 3-pointers made.
This was his 27th double-figure game of the season and 18th in the last 21 games.
– Otega Oweh tallied 18 points and led the Wildcats in rebounds (8) and steals (2).
He scored double figures in 35 of 36 games this season.
It was his 21st game this season with multiple steals.
He now has 1,255 points, most points by a player in his first two seasons with the program.
– Kentucky missed Jayden Quaintance and Jaland Lowe today because of injury.
Lowe played only nine games this season, his last game on January 10.
Quaintance played only four games, his last appearance on January 7.
– During his two years at UK, Coach Mark Pope has played only five of 57 games against high-major opponents (8.8 percent) with a full roster.
In the First Half
– Kentucky started the combination of Denzel Aberdeen, Collin Chandler, Otega Oweh, Andrija Jelavic and Malachi Moreno for the 17th consecutive game.
– The first substitutes were Brandon Garrison and Mouhamed Dioubate at 15:26.
– Sparked by a pair of 3-pointers from both Chandler and Aberdeen, Kentucky jumped out to an 18-6 lead, the Wildcats’ largest advantage of the game.
– Ahead 20-9, the Wildcats went scoreless for almost four minutes and Iowa State went on an 11-0 run to tie the game.
– Kentucky led 30-23 with two minutes to go but Iowa State scored eight straight to take a 31-30 lead into halftime.
– Aberdeen led the Wildcats with 10 points.
In the Second Half
– Kentucky began the second half with the starters.
– ISU opened the half with a 3-pointer, completing an 11-0 run for a 34-30 lead.
– Ahead 39-36, Iowa State had a 20-5 stretch for a 59-41 lead with 9:53 remaining.
– Iowa State extended the lead to 23 points at 70-47.
